Reversible gravity feed can rack



1965 J. a. PENDERGRAST. JR., ETAL REVERSIBLE GRAVITY FEED CAN RACK I:

Filed Jan. 27, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JOHN 8. PE NDERGRASZ'JQ!BY IRA J SILBERMAN QJXJLV/ ATTORNE Aug. 31, 1965 J. B. PENDERGRAST, JR.,ET'AL 3,203,553

REVERSIBLE GRAVITY FEED CAN RACK Filed Jan. 27, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS JOHN 8. PE NDE RGRASZJ: BY IRA J- S/LBERMAN ATTOR Aug. 31,1965 J. B. PENDERGRAST, JR., ETAL REVERSIBLE GRAVITY FEED CAN RACK 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 27, 1964 L 132 Z n G. 5 9 54- 1965 J. B.PENDERGRAST, JR., ETAL. 3, 53

REVERSIBLE GRAVITY FEED CAN RACK Filed Jan. 27, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 4j'u Hill] [1 H0 L L .1 L55 j FIG. 9 F/G /0 VENTORS'" JOHN B. PENDE/FRASZJR. um J. SILBERMAN Aug. 31, 1965 J. B. PENDERGRAST. JR.. ETALREVERSIBLE GRAVITY FEED CAN BACK 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 27, 1964 K.V! E m M 04 NG W T mM A United States Patent 3,203,553 REVERSIBLEGRAVITY FEED CAN RACK John B. Pendergrast, In, Atlanta, and Ira .I.Silberman, De Kalb County, Ga., assignors to Southern Spring Bed'Company, Atlanta, Ga, a corporation of Georgia Filed Jan. 27,'1964,Ser. No. 340,292 7 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) This invention relates toa reversible gravity feed can rack and particularly to a rack of thatsort which slopes at one time for merchandising of cans in a downwardlysloped gravity feed position and is shiftable from this positionmanually to a reverse slope in the opposite direction for the purpose ofloading the rack with cans and then shifting the rack to merchandisingor dispensing position.

Supermarkets and similar merchandising establishments display and sell agreat deal of merchandise contained in cans such as soups, soft drinksor other products.

In large volume establishments it is necessary from time to time tomaintain a proper supply of cans on the shelves and at the same time todisplay them with maximum advantage both for convenience so that thecustomer can find what he is looking for as well as to promote anyparticular items. Cans stacked on end on top of each other on ordinaryrigid supermarket shelves do not readily dispense from the shelf,sometimes fall when the customer attempts to remove them, and requiressome amount of care in stacking or tumbling will result. The presentmerchandising shelf aids and facilitates both the loading of cans andthe presentation of the cans for removal by the customer.

Generally described, without restriction on the scope of my inventionwhich is found in the appended claims, in one embodiment the rack isconstructed from open, welded wires forming an upstanding frame havingindividual, spaced shelves thereon constructed from longitudinal wirebottom runners with side frames substantially the width of the typicalcan, such as a soft drink can. All of the shelves are supported on acommon frame having four corners, two on the front and two on the rear.Each end of the rack is hinged to a support member such as shelf boardor the like and in one embodiment the hinge consists of a bent U-shapedmember with ends looped around the wires substantially at oppositecorners of the rack. These U-shaped members are in turn fastened as bystraps to the bottom board. The front of each shelf is provided with acan stopping member adapted to stop the outermost can in its gravityfeed from leaving the shelf. In the operation of the device, normallythe rear hinge is inclined upwardly and the front hinge is inclinedoutwardly substantially horizontally so that there is a forward slope,downwardly from rear to front thereby dispensing the cans towards thefront and against the stopping member. However, when it is desired toload the shelf, the attendant grasps the rack and shifts the whole racklifting the front hinge upwardly substantially vertical and lowering theback hinge rearwardly and substantially horizontally to reverse theslope from front to rear. In the position just mentioned, the attendantthen deposits cans at the front part of the rack and these roll readilyto the rear portion of the rack until each shelf is full at which timethe attendant then reverses the inclination of the rack by grasping sameand tilting the hinges opposite from the manner previously described.

In another embodiment of the rack, the front and rear hinges areeliminated and the rack is substantially identical in height and sizeboth in the front and the rear. Substantially transversely and at thebottom center of the rack approximately at the fulcrum point there islocated a transverse fulcrum member which is supported on a support onopposite sides of the rack and the support is fastened to a shelf. Withthis construction, the rack is substantially balanced about the centerfulcrum point and the length of the shelves is preferably such that eachshelf is slightly longer than an exact number of can diameters therebyleaving a distance between the front can or rear can and the respectivefront or rear of the rack. For loading the rack, the attendant manuallycauses the rack to pivot or swing about the fulcrum point to place theslope from the front downwardly toward the rear and cans are depositedin the front and roll to the rear of the rack until each shelf becomesfull with the maximum number of cans at which time the attendantgrasping the front of the rack pushes down slightly thereon causing thecans to shift toward the front thereby bringing the rack into a reverseslope from that previously mentioned whereby the front of the rack islower than the back of the rack and the cans are feeding by gravitytoward the front. Balance may be varied and any desired balancing may beachieved through the relationship between the amount of cans carried atone time forward of the pivot point as opposed to the amount of cansthat can be carried at a given time rearward of the pivot point. Withproper design, the rack is fairly easily shifted in one direction or theother both in the loaded and unloaded condition.

An object of this invention is to provide a gravity feeding can rackwhich may be reversed in slope for loading.

A further object of this invention is to provide a gravity feed can rackhaving opposite ends hingedly fastened to a support surface so that therack may be selectively inclined in one direction or other for loading.

A further object of this invention resides in a form of the inventionwhereby the rack is balanced substantially about a fulcrum point andsupported above the support surface thereon so that the position of thefront or rear of the rack is determined by the fulcrum.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1, is a perspective view of one of one form of the present can rackinclined forwardly and downwardly for gravity dispensing.

FIG. 2, is a perspective view of the rack shown in FIG. 1, tilted fromthe FIG. 1, position to a rearwardly inclined gravity loading position.

FIG. 3, is a side elevation view of the rack shown in the position inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4, is a rear perspective view of the rack shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5, is a front perspective view of the rack in the position shown inFIG. 2 and FIG. 3.

FIG. 6, is a perspective view of a modified form of the gravity feed canrack with some of the interior wires removed for clarity.

FIG. 7, is a side elevation view of the rack shown in FIG. 6, tilted tofeed cans to the left hand side of the sheet.

FIG. 8, is a front elevation view of the rack shown in FIG. 6, but at alevel balanced position.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a detail taken substantially alonglines 99 in FIG. 11.

FIG. 10, is a side elevation cross-sectional view taken substantiallyalong lines 1010 in FIG. 11.

FIG. 11, is an exploded view of a modified form of the rack with some ofthe rear most lines omitted to reduce possible optical illusion and withthe side members dotted in place to their assembled position.

Referring initially to the rack shown in FIG. 1, which is designatedgenerally by the reference number 10, a rack frame comprises opposed,spaced open wire sides 12, 14, constructed from wires or rods which maybe chrome plated or otherwise covered for appearance, sides 12, 14consists of top members 16, 18, front and rear members 20, 22,respectively and bottom cross-connecting members 24 at the rear and 25at the front.

The rear end of the rack between members 22 is strengthened andconnected by means of cross members 26 formed as part of U-shapedmembers 28 having the sides thereof 30, 32 ext-ending between the frontmembers 20, and the rear members 22 on each side 12, 14. Members at thefront are cross-connected by means of rods 36 which together with therear cross members 26 and elongated shelf members 38 welded theretoprovide elongated can shelves open at the top and provided with sidesconstructed with the members 28 and the respective sides 12, 14.

Each shelf member 38 is composed of a pair of spaced rods 40, 42 bent atthe front into a can stopping member or can ledge 44, which extendsupwardly at the front of the'rack.

The lower most transverse member 24 on the rear of the rack and which inthe form shown in FIG. 1, is formed as a loop with the opposing rearmembers 22, has movably attached thereto a pair of spaced loop members48, 50 which are bent from and formed with the U-shaped hinge member 52.Member 52 is hingedly or movably attached in place by a pair of straps54, fastened by screws 56 to a fixed surface 58 which could be the topshelf of a supermarket rack or could be any suitable fixed support suchas a wooden shelf or platform provided for this specific purpose.

The lower most front transverse member 36 which is actually a portion ofa wire loop formed from side front members 20, is provided with a pairof opposed, loosely fitting loops 48 identical with those found on therear of the rack 10 constructed from a hinge member 52 held in place bystraps 54 and screws 56.

The front of the rack for dispensing purposes is shown in FIG. 1, isadapted to dispense cans 64 removed by hand 66 from behind the front canretaining members 44. In a dispensing position shown in FIG. 1, the rackis inclined from the rear forwardly and downwardly toward the front atsuch an angle as conveniently to dispense cans that roll by gravityalong the track formed by members 40, 42 on a shelf 38. It is to beunderstood that the height of the rack may be varied and the respectivelengths of the hinge members 52 may be varied and even may be differentat the front than at the rear or vice-versa, the object being to inclinethe rack for loading to the rear as easily as possible and conversely toincline the rack towards the front for gravity feeding as easily aspossible and to have as little force on the cans as necessary but at thesame time to provide a smooth positive and ready dispensing and rollingof the cans along the track formed by members 40, 42 after a can 64 isremoved from the front.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the rack 10 is empty or near empty the stockclerk or any other person may reverse the tilt of the rack from theposition shown in FIG. 1, which is the dispensing position, to inclinethe rack from a forwardly downwardly to a rearwardly position wherebywhen the stock clerk removes cans 4 from a shipping carton he merelyinserts them behind the front can retaining member 44, and the cans willthen roll by gravity towards the rear of the rack against members 26.

As readily seen in FIG. 3, when the rack in the design shown in thepresent embodiment is inclined rearwardly for loading, the U-shapedhinge member 52 is lying with the loop portions 48 thereof on top of thebottom support 58 and at the same time the front hinge member 52 israised to a substantially vertical position, or perhaps inclined veryslightly to the left of a vertical line through the bottom supportmember 58 and through the center of the strap 54. In this position,after the cans 64 have been loaded into the respective shelves 38, itrequires very little force to offset the center of gravity and toincline the loop members 48, 50 sufficiently forward of a vertical lineto cause gravity to then tilt the rack all the way forward to the FIG.1, position.

It is deemed better to have the length of the shelves and the overalllength of the rack measured from the front can stopping member 44 to therear member 26, less than an exact number of can diameters so that it isimpossible for the supermarket clerk to load the rack and to jam canstightly from member 26 rear, to front member 44, thereby assuring thatthere will always be sufiicient space on each shelf 38 to make it easyfor a customer to slightly push the row of cans rearwardly sufiicientlyto take the force off of the can 64 in the hand 66, and to simply liftit over the short front can stopping member 44.

FIG. 6, Embodiment The rack shown in FIG. 6, is still a gravity feedrack adapted to load with the shelves inclined in one direction towardthe rear for loading and to be inclined to a reverse slope toward thefront for the purpose of gravity feeding the cans that have been loadedinto the rack as each can is removed by a customer substantially in themanner shown in FIG. 1. To this extent, the racks of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6,are identical in operation and arrangement whereby they tilt in onedirection for loading so that the cans will roll to the rear and tilt inthe opposite direction for dispensing so that the cans will rolldownwardly toward the front.

Rack 100, shown in FIG. 6, comprises actually two side-by-side racksrigidly constructed on a common frame and having opposed side members102, 104 constructed from bent wire or rod material and in a particularshape shown clearly in the drawings. A center longitudinal and verticalframe member 106 divides the rack in half and provides a side for eachof the side members 102, 104 and to define a shelf for cans 64 supportedtherein.

The sides 102, 104 and the center member 106 are connected transverselyby means of rear rods 108 and front rods 110 arranged in spacedrelationship in a substantially vertical direction from top to bottom ofthe rack. Longitudinal, side members 112 connect the front and rearverticals 114, 116 of each of the respective sides 102, 104 andintermediate member 106, and together with intermediate longitudinalmembers 117 provide longitudinal shelves in spaced relation from top tobottom of the rack, there being three such shelves on each side of therack shown in FIG. 6, for a total of six shelves.

Each longitudinal 117 has an upwardly bent forward and rear end 120 andall together the upwardly bent or upturned ends at the front and therear form a can stopping means both at the front and rear of the rack tocatch front most or rear most can depending upon the inclination of therack.

The center portions of side members 102, 104 each bends and extendsdownward to form a V-shaped center with an apex 126 and in similarmanner the center section 106 bends to form an identical V-shapedportion with a bottom apex 126. Apexes 126 are joined together by themeans of a transverse fulcrum or pivot rod 128 having the ends thereofextending and connected to the bottoms of the respective apexes 126 asby welding or otherwise. A transverse fulcrum member 129 is constructedfrom flat metal strap or the like and extends substantially the fullwidth of the rack between the apexes 126 on the respective sides 102,104 and is fastened to a support 130 which may be a part of rack orshelf or may be any support member stably mounted to support the entirerack 100. The fulcrum 128 is attached in place in the embodiment of FIG.6, by means of screws 131. The opposite ends 132 of member 128 havenotches 134 therein and in these notches 134 rests the rod 128approximately next to the bottom apex 126 of side members 102, 104 andalso at apex 126 on number 106. Rod 128 is located approximately in thecenter of the rack as measured from front to rear and each shelf 120 asshown in FIG. 7, is arranged to hold slightly less than an exact numberof can diameters 64 whereby the cans 64 can be caused to roll to thefront to off-balance the rack at the front in the manner shown in FIG.7, or to roll when the front of the rack is lifted by hand to the rearof the rack to tilt the rack 100 in exactly the opposite tilt from thatshown in FIG. 7, whereby the cans will roll from front to rear. Members114, 116 may be provided with small ferrules 130, to contactrespectively the top of support 130. Thus, when the rack is inclinedforwardly in the manner shown in FIG, 7, this is considered to be thefront dispensing position whereby manually a can may be removed bygently pushing the row of cans to the rear of the rack on the right handside in FIG. 7, and lifting the can over the front member 120. Wheneverit is desired to load the rack either when it is empty or partiallyempty the front of the rack is lifted by hand to shift the center ofgravity about the fulcrum point on member 126 and at the same time tocause any cans 64 which are still on the rack to roll to the rearthereby causing the rack to tilt in the opposite direction whereby theslope is from front downwardly to rear rather than from rear downwardlyto front in the manner shown in FIG. 7. In the loading position theferrules 138, on the rear legs 116 would be touching the top of surface130.

An intermediate position is shown in FIG. 8, wherein the rack issubstantially level or horizontal and is neither resting on the frontlegs 114 or rear legs 116. This is an abnormal condition which is onlyintermediate between a front dispensing or a rear loading position anddoes not normally exist in normal operation of the rack 100.

It is to be noted that the forces involved are small and the distancesto travel are relatively small so that the rack can be shifted readilyfrom a front dispensing position shown in FIG. 7, to rear loadingposition on the opposite direction with a minimum of effort or time.

FIG. 11 Embodiment As stated previously in connection with the briefdescription of the Figures, FIG. 11, shows an exploded view of amodified form of the rack with some of the rear most lines omitted toavoid possible optical illusion. The embodiment of the rack shown inFIG. 11, is very worthwhile from the standpoint of ease of manufacture,shipping and assembly and is particularly arranged to be knocked-downand shipped at minimum shipping cost.

The opposed sides of the rack 200 in FIG. 11, designated as 202 and 204are pre-fabricated in one piece as an open frame each consisting of awire rod side frame member 206, 208. Each side frame 206, 208 comprisesa substantially MM-shaped frame member having longitudinal strengtheningside members 210, 212 welded or otherwise fastened thereto and havingloops at the front end at 214, 216 for a purpose to be described.

The rack in FIG. 11, has three trays or shelves spaced vertically andeach being designated by the overall reference numeral 220 and eachshelf 220 comprising a plurality of longitudinal shelf support membersor wire runners 222 bent into a curved front member 224 providing a canstopping means on the front member and terminating at the rear endupwardly turned members 226 providing a can stopping means on the rear.A transverse strengthening rod 228 strengthens and interconnects therunners 222 on each shelf and since the shelves 220 are identical inconstruction and substantiall flat they will be next in contactvertically with each other for shipping. The rear members 226 areinterconnected transversely by a transverse rod or wire member 230welded or otherwise attached thereto. Rod or wire 230 attached to theends 226 forms a curved can stopping means at one end of the rack 200 oneach of the shelves 220.

Members 206, 208 are flattened at selected positions 230 and providedwith bolt or screw openings thereat for attaching the parts detachablyin place. The assembly and rigid attachment of members 208 and 206 tothe shelves 220 is by means of transverse flat bar members 236 havinginturned ends 238 with screw or bolt openings therein matching withpositions 230 on the respective members 206, 208. There are three suchmembers 236 at the front of the rack 200 and beneath each of the'respective shelves 220 and likewise three members 236 at the rear ofthe rack there being one beneath each of the respective shelves 220 atthe rear thereof and the front and rear members 236 rigidly attach thesides 206, 208 together and support a respective shelf 220.

Since the entire rack 200 is tiltable or capable of reverse slope orinclination in the manner of the previously described racks a supportbar 240 has screw holes 242 therein for attachment to a surface againstwhich the bottom ends of legs 243 on each of the four corners of therack on respective side members 206, 208 can contact the surfacedepending upon the inclination of the rack. Member 242 has upturned ends244 with open slots 246 therein and the bottoms of the V-shaped portionsof members 206, 208 are provided respectively with lugs or shoulderedattachment bolts 24% which set into the slot 246 on member 240.

As in the previous embodiments the height of the upturned ends 244 andthe bottom of slot 246 is such that when supporting the shoulderedattachment bolts 248 of the rack 200 the entire rack is supported withthe bottom terminal ends of the legs 243 normally above the surface ofthe support for the rack, such as a supermarket shelf or the like notshown, unless the rack is tilted either rearwardly downwardly toward thefront at which time the rack rests on the front legs 243 or is tiltedfront downwardly to the rear at which time the rack is resting on therear legs 243.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, this is by way of illustration only and does not constitutethe only form of my invention as various departures may be made withinthe scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a gravity feed can rack mounted on a rigid support such as asupermarket stand:

(a) a can supporting and dispensing shelf of a width sufficient to holdat least the length of one can and of a length to hold a plurality ofcans arranged each resting with the cylindrical side thereof and in arow of cans along the length of the shelf,

(b) a front can stopping member on said shelf and a rear can stoppingmember on said shelf preventing cans from completely rolling therefromwhen said shelf is tilted,

(c) means for manually inclining said shelf forwardly for gravityfeeding cans toward the front whereby as a can is removed manually byhand another can and all the cans behind roll forward to the canstopping member on the front; and conversely means for inclining saidshelf manually by hand to a rearwardly inclined position so that cansmanually placed on the front, to load said shelf, roll to the rear untilthe rack is full, said means including,

(d) a fulcrum means on each side of said shelf and being locatedapproximately in the center of the rack to provide stability andbalance.

2. In a gravity feed can rack mounted on a rigid support, such as asupermarket stand:

(a) a plurality of vertically spaced can supporting and dispensingshelves of a width sufiicient to hold at least the length of one can andof a length to hold a plurality of cans arranged each resting with thecylindrical side thereof on the shelf and in a row of such cans alongthe length of the shelf, whereby said cans will roll along the shelfwhen the shelf is tilted.

(b) means on each of said shelves preventing cans from completelyrolling therefrom either at the front or rear when tilted by gravity,and means rigidly connecting all of said shelves together in stackedrelation,

(c) fulcrum means movably supporting said shelves whereby one of saidfront end or rear end is tilted selectively simultaneously to place saidshelves in an inclined position selectively at the front or the rear tocause the cans to travel to that end and to roll by gravity each time acan is removed from the front for dispensing and to travel to the rearfor loading, said fulcrum means being located substantially in thecenter of the rack to provide stability both in the loaded and unloadedposition,

(d) said shelves when inclined forwardly to gravity feeding cans towardthe front whereby as a can is removed manually by hand another can andall the cans behind roll forward to the can stopping means on the front;and conversely when said shelf is not full and is inclined manually byhand another can and all the cans behind roll forward to the canstopping means on the front; and conversely when said shelf is not fulland is inclined manually by hand to a rearwardly inclined position, cansmay be placed on the front manually to load said shelf and said canswill roll to the rear until the rack is full.

3. In a gravity feed can dispensing rack for mounting on a rigidsupport, such as a display shelf in a supermarket:

(a) a rack frame,

(b) an elongated shelf on said frame at least the width of a cylindricalcan and of a length of more than one such cans,

(c) said shelf on said rack having can stopping means on the front andrear thereof,

((1) side members on said shelf,

(e) front and rear contact portions on said shelf,

(f) and means supporting said rack for movement intermediate said frontand rear contact portions and in manner such that front and rear contactportions do not touch simultaneously whereby said rack must be inclinedfrom front to rear or vice versa in order respectively to place saidfront or rear contact portions in contact with the support surface, saidmeans including,

(g) a fulcrum means mounted on the rigid support, such as a displayshelf, and including opposite sides of said rack mounted for movement onsaid fulcrum means, and said fulcrum means being located substantiallymidway intermediate the length of the shelf to provide stability in bothloaded and unloaded position and to assist the movement of the rack fromone inclination to the other inclination when the shelf is less thanfull of cans.

4. In a reversible can dispensing rack:

(a) a rack having can supporting shelf thereon,

(b) front and rear can stopping means on said shelf,

(c) a support surface for said rack,

(d) a first member on said rack movably attaching said front to saidsupport and movably to said rack, and a second member on said rackmovably attaching said rear to said support and said rack,

Q (a (e) in one position said second member being extensible upwardly toincline and raise the rear of said rack and said first member beingretractable to lower the front edge for dispensing, and in anotherposition said second member being retractable rearwardly to lower saidrear edge and said front member being extensible upwardly to raise saidfront edge, whereby said rack may be inclined in one direction to causecans to feed by gravity toward the rear for loading, and reversed ininclination in the other direction to cause cans to feed from the reartoward the front for dispensing. 5. In a can dispensing rack forpositioning on a support such as a supermarket shelf:

(a) a longitudinal can supporting shelf accommodating at least the widthof a can lying on its side, and a plurality of such cans in a row,

(b) said shelf having a front and a rear,

(c) said shelf having a front and rear can stopping means to preventcans from rolling off the shelf when the shelf is inclined,

(d) a front and rear hinge means on said rack attached to said supportand to said rack effecting relative motion therebetween,

(e) said rear hinge connection means being operable to raise the rear ofsaid rack and said front hinge connection means being operable to lowerthe front in one position of dispensing and said rear hinge beingoperable in another position to lower said rear and said front hingebeing operable to raise said front, whereby said rack may be inclined inone direction to cause cans to feed by gravity toward the rear forloading and reverse in the other direction to cause cans to feed fromthe rear toward the front for dispensing.

6. In a can dispensing rack:

(21) a longitudinal can supporting shelf accommodating at least thewidth of a can lying on its curved side, and a plurality of such cans ina row,

(b) said shelf having a front and a rear,

(c) said rack having a front and a rear can stopping means therein,

(d) the front of said rack attached movably to said support and movablyto said rack by a link member and a rear link member on said rackattached movably to said support and said rack,

(e) said rear link being extensible upwardly to incline and raise therear of said rack and said front link being retractable to lower thefront edge; said rear link being retractable rearwardly to lower saidrear edge and said front link being extensible upwardly to raise saidfront edge, whereby said rack may be inclined in one direction to causecans to feed by gravity toward the rear for loading and reverse in theother direction to cause cans to feed from the rear toward the front fordispensing.

'7. In a can dispensing rack for positioning on a support such as ashelf,

(a) a longitudinal can supporting shelf accommodating at least the widthof a can lying on its curved side and a plurality of such cans in a row,said shelf having,

(b) a front and a rear,

(c) said rack having a front and a rear can stopping means thereon,

(d) the front of said rack attached movably to said support and the rearof said rack attached movably to said support and said front and rearincluding extensible means therein,

(e) said rear being extensible upwardly at the attachment to raise therear of said rack and said front being retractable to lower the frontedge; said rear being retractable rearwardly to lower said rear edge andsaid front being extensible upwardly to raise said front edge, wherebysaid rack may be inclined in one 9 10 direction to cause cans to feed bygravity toward the 2,218,444 10/40 Vineyard 21149 rear for loading andreverse in the other direction to 2,588,618 3/52 Di Renzo 31249 causecans to feed from the rear toward the front for 2,958,424 11/60 Bigatti21141 dispensing. 3,007,580 1 1/ 61 Dickson 21149 References Cited bythe Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 96,780 1/61Netherlands.

2,119,700 6/38 Burgess 21149 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A GRAVITY FEED CAN RACK MOUNTED ON A RIGID SUPPORT SUCH AS ASUPERMARKET STAND: (A) A CAN SUPPORTING AND DISPENSING SHELF OF A WIDTHSUFFICIENT TO HOLD AT LEAST THE LENGTH OF ONE CAN AND OF A LENGTH TOHOLD A PLURALITY OF CANS ARRANGED EACH RESTING WITH THE CYLINDRICAL SIDETHEREOF AND IN A ROW OF CANS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE SHELF, (B) A FRONTCAN STOPPING MEMBER ON SAID SHELF AND A REAR CAN STOPPING MEMBER ON SAIDSHELF PREVENTING CANS FROM COMPLETELY ROLLING THEREFROM WHEN SAID SHELFIS TILTED, (C) MEANS FOR MANUALLY INCLINING SAID SHELF FORWARDLY FORGRAVITY FEEDING CANS TOWARD THE FRONT WHEREBY AS A CAN IS REMOVEDMANUALLY BY HAND ANOTHER CAN AND ALL THE CANS BEHIND ROLL FORWARD TO THECAN STOPPING MEMBER ON THE FRONT; AND CONVERSELY MEANS FOR INCLININGSAID SHELF MANUALLY BY HAND TO A REARWARDLY INCLINED POSITION SO THATCANS MANUALLY PLACED ON THE FRONT, TO LOAD SAID SHELF, ROLL TO THE REARUNTIL THE RACK IS FULL, SAID MEANS INCLUDING, (D) A FULCRUM MEANS ONEACH SIDE OF SAID SHELF AND BEING LOCATED APPROXIMATELY IN THE CENTER OFTHE RACK TO PROVIDE STABILITY AND BALANCE.